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I recently finished free trials of both Neflix and Blockbuster video
rental services. I live in the greater Los Angeles area, about 20
miles from the Blockbuster center, forty miles from the Netflix site.
The local Blockbuster rental store is within easy walking distance.
The Netflix trial was for four weeks, the Blockbuster for two.

Based upon this experience the Blockbuster service was in every
way superior to that of Netflix. Netflix does not process orders
on weekends or holidays, Blockbuster seems to work 24/7. Netflix
requires two-way mail service for every disk, you can return
your disks to your local Blockbuster store, have the disks scanned
in, and the Blockbuster center will ship your next entry.

As an example, I returned a disk to my local Blockbuster store
on Thanksgiving day; the Blockbuster center received notice
and shipped out a replacement that day; I received the replacement
on the day after Thanksgiving.

Upon returning a disk to the local Blockbuster you can take out
a free rental for any disk in the store. Following on my
Thanksgiving experience above, after I returned the disk I was
able to take out another immediately. There is no way that Netflix
can match that.

If you are interested in video rental by mail I encourage you to
take advantage of the Blockbuster free trial.

root wrote:
> I recently finished free trials of both Neflix and Blockbuster
> video
> rental services. I live in the greater Los Angeles area, about
> 20
> miles from the Blockbuster center, forty miles from the
> Netflix site.
> The local Blockbuster rental store is within easy walking
> distance.
> The Netflix trial was for four weeks, the Blockbuster for two.
>
> Based upon this experience the Blockbuster service was in
> every
> way superior to that of Netflix. Netflix does not process
> orders
> on weekends or holidays, Blockbuster seems to work 24/7.
> Netflix
> requires two-way mail service for every disk, you can return
> your disks to your local Blockbuster store, have the disks
> scanned
> in, and the Blockbuster center will ship your next entry.
>
> As an example, I returned a disk to my local Blockbuster store
> on Thanksgiving day; the Blockbuster center received notice
> and shipped out a replacement that day; I received the
> replacement
> on the day after Thanksgiving.
>
> Upon returning a disk to the local Blockbuster you can take
> out
> a free rental for any disk in the store. Following on my
> Thanksgiving experience above, after I returned the disk I was
> able to take out another immediately. There is no way that
> Netflix
> can match that.
>
> If you are interested in video rental by mail I encourage you
> to
> take advantage of the Blockbuster free trial.

This is a very nice presentation of your argument favoring BB.
Some points to consider and not necessarily to contravene your
positives:

1) I'm about 40 miles south of L.A. in the greater megalopolis.
Nearest BB store is 5 miles and there are three of them in about
the same radius. None happens to be adjacent to anywhere else I
might shop, so visiting them would be the sole purpose of a trip
there.

2) The principal reason that I stopped in-store rentals with BB
was that the lengthened return policy (forced by Netflix's lower
cost strategy) caused much of the disc rental shelf space to be
empty much of the time AND that the older items had always
tended to stagnate, so that there was little of interest to be
found in the store after several years as a customer.

3) A perusal of what Netflix had available for rental when
compared with the "shopping" list I kept, the content of which I
never found in a BB store, left me no option but to switch -
Netflix had what I wanted.

4) Time has passed and BB has had more than enough time to work
out a competitive strategy - and you've done a nice job of
highlighting what it is, for those who - like yourself - live
within walking distance of a store located not too far from an
on-line-rental distribution center.

5) Every once in a while a BB promotion entices me back into any
of the nearby stores. Nothing has changed: the wall is
virtually empty; the same "old" films I'd seen too often a few
years back are still on the floor.

I've not visited BB's on-line-rental web site for quite a while,
so I will not attempt to make a comparison between it and
Netflix. However, in a few years now as a Netflix customer they
have done nothing wrong in amply fulfilling my video rental
needs - and, I've never needed to go anywhere by foot or by car
to enhance my experience with them.

On Sat, 02 Dec 2006 10:22:05 GMT, root <> wrote:

>I recently finished free trials of both Neflix and Blockbuster video
>rental services. I live in the greater Los Angeles area, about 20
>miles from the Blockbuster center, forty miles from the Netflix site.
>The local Blockbuster rental store is within easy walking distance.
>The Netflix trial was for four weeks, the Blockbuster for two.
>
>Based upon this experience the Blockbuster service was in every
>way superior to that of Netflix. Netflix does not process orders
>on weekends or holidays, Blockbuster seems to work 24/7. Netflix
>requires two-way mail service for every disk, you can return
>your disks to your local Blockbuster store, have the disks scanned
>in, and the Blockbuster center will ship your next entry.
>
>As an example, I returned a disk to my local Blockbuster store
>on Thanksgiving day; the Blockbuster center received notice
>and shipped out a replacement that day; I received the replacement
>on the day after Thanksgiving.
>
>Upon returning a disk to the local Blockbuster you can take out
>a free rental for any disk in the store. Following on my
>Thanksgiving experience above, after I returned the disk I was
>able to take out another immediately. There is no way that Netflix
>can match that.
>
>If you are interested in video rental by mail I encourage you to
>take advantage of the Blockbuster free trial.


Based on your description, if Blockbuster offered the exact same
selection as NetFlix (and the monthly plan cost about the same), I
would be very inclined to switch.

How's the selection at Blockbuster? I just hit their site, as a
non-member, and searched for a couple of the more obscure movies on my
Netflix queue:

Cats (199
Battle Beyond the Stars (1980)
Soylent Green
David Bowie: A Reality Tour
The Cat O' Nine Tails (1971)
Schizopolis

I got search results for every single one of these, but I can't tell
if that means that, as a monthly member, those movies would be
available to me. (Sometimes, for search results, a site will just
show any movie in its DB, even if it doesn't actually have the movie
available.)

I got search results for the "Pinky Violence Collection," but it's for
the purchase of a boxed set. I didn't see any sign that I'd be able
to rent, say, "Pinky Violence Collection: Criminal Woman." (Is "rent"
the right word to use when you're dealing with Blockbuster's monthly
plan?)

Anyway, how's the actual rental selection for Blockbuster online
members?

On Sat, 02 Dec 2006 10:22:05 GMT, root <> wrote:

>I recently finished free trials of both Neflix and Blockbuster video
>rental services. I live in the greater Los Angeles area, about 20
>miles from the Blockbuster center, forty miles from the Netflix site.
>The local Blockbuster rental store is within easy walking distance.
>The Netflix trial was for four weeks, the Blockbuster for two.
>
>Based upon this experience the Blockbuster service was in every
>way superior to that of Netflix. Netflix does not process orders
>on weekends or holidays, Blockbuster seems to work 24/7. Netflix
>requires two-way mail service for every disk, you can return
>your disks to your local Blockbuster store, have the disks scanned
>in, and the Blockbuster center will ship your next entry.
>
>As an example, I returned a disk to my local Blockbuster store
>on Thanksgiving day; the Blockbuster center received notice
>and shipped out a replacement that day; I received the replacement
>on the day after Thanksgiving.
>
>Upon returning a disk to the local Blockbuster you can take out
>a free rental for any disk in the store. Following on my
>Thanksgiving experience above, after I returned the disk I was
>able to take out another immediately. There is no way that Netflix
>can match that.
>
>If you are interested in video rental by mail I encourage you to
>take advantage of the Blockbuster free trial.


Either service can be good or poor depending on whatever. I dumped
both Netflix and Blockbuster and now use the local Hollywood video--3
rentals for $9.99 a month. And you can exchange as many as you wish
as often as you wish.

Phisherman:

> 3 rentals for $9.99 a month. And you can exchange as many as you
> wish as often as you wish.

What does that mean, to exchange a rental?

--
Mac Cool

Mac Cool wrote:

> Phisherman:
>
>
>>3 rentals for $9.99 a month. And you can exchange as many as you
>>wish as often as you wish.
>
>
> What does that mean, to exchange a rental?

Well, if it were Netflix, it would mean "3 rentals out at a time", and
unlimited exchanges all month--

But, since Blockbuster's copying the wording without quite understanding
the essence, we're not really sure.

Derek Janssen

"root" <> wrote in message
news:htcch.114$...
>I recently finished free trials of both Neflix and Blockbuster video
> rental services. I live in the greater Los Angeles area, about 20
> miles from the Blockbuster center, forty miles from the Netflix site.
> The local Blockbuster rental store is within easy walking distance.
> The Netflix trial was for four weeks, the Blockbuster for two.
>
> Based upon this experience the Blockbuster service was in every
> way superior to that of Netflix. Netflix does not process orders
> on weekends or holidays, Blockbuster seems to work 24/7. Netflix
> requires two-way mail service for every disk, you can return
> your disks to your local Blockbuster store, have the disks scanned
> in, and the Blockbuster center will ship your next entry.
>
> As an example, I returned a disk to my local Blockbuster store
> on Thanksgiving day; the Blockbuster center received notice
> and shipped out a replacement that day; I received the replacement
> on the day after Thanksgiving.
>
> Upon returning a disk to the local Blockbuster you can take out
> a free rental for any disk in the store. Following on my
> Thanksgiving experience above, after I returned the disk I was
> able to take out another immediately. There is no way that Netflix
> can match that.
>
> If you are interested in video rental by mail I encourage you to
> take advantage of the Blockbuster free trial.

One of the main reasons I use a home-delivery service is for the convenience
of being able to return movies by simply placing the envelopes back into my
mailbox. So being able to return movies to a local BB is not desirable.

Dan P. wrote:
> "root" <> wrote in message
> news:htcch.114$...
> >I recently finished free trials of both Neflix and Blockbuster video
> > rental services. I live in the greater Los Angeles area, about 20
> > miles from the Blockbuster center, forty miles from the Netflix site.
> > The local Blockbuster rental store is within easy walking distance.
> > The Netflix trial was for four weeks, the Blockbuster for two.
> >
> > Based upon this experience the Blockbuster service was in every
> > way superior to that of Netflix. Netflix does not process orders
> > on weekends or holidays, Blockbuster seems to work 24/7. Netflix
> > requires two-way mail service for every disk, you can return
> > your disks to your local Blockbuster store, have the disks scanned
> > in, and the Blockbuster center will ship your next entry.
> >
> > As an example, I returned a disk to my local Blockbuster store
> > on Thanksgiving day; the Blockbuster center received notice
> > and shipped out a replacement that day; I received the replacement
> > on the day after Thanksgiving.
> >
> > Upon returning a disk to the local Blockbuster you can take out
> > a free rental for any disk in the store. Following on my
> > Thanksgiving experience above, after I returned the disk I was
> > able to take out another immediately. There is no way that Netflix
> > can match that.
> >
> > If you are interested in video rental by mail I encourage you to
> > take advantage of the Blockbuster free trial.
>
> One of the main reasons I use a home-delivery service is for the convenience
> of being able to return movies by simply placing the envelopes back into my
> mailbox. So being able to return movies to a local BB is not desirable.

Yeah, no kidding. If I want to go to Blockbuster, I'd go to
Blockbuster. The free trial works for me, as I can return to the store
and get twice as many discs for the trial month. However many of them
aren't copy protected can certainly be watched later. However, I'm
heading back to Netflix as soon as the month is up.

Dan P. <> wrote:
>
> One of the main reasons I use a home-delivery service is for the convenience
> of being able to return movies by simply placing the envelopes back into my
> mailbox. So being able to return movies to a local BB is not desirable.
>
>

Of course you have that option with Blockbuster, but then BB has no advantage
over Netflix.

On 4 Dec 2006 01:37:35 GMT, Mac Cool <> wrote:


>Phisherman:

>> 3 rentals for $9.99 a month. And you can exchange as many as you
>> wish as often as you wish.

>What does that mean, to exchange a rental?

which word don't you understand?